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“Everybody knows what we’re going to be feeding them…but nobody has a clue to how we’re gonna serve it.” Truer words hath ne’er been spoken, Castro. Everyone knew: burpees and thrusters. But how. I was terrified they’d throw out the 7-min AMRAP burpees to 6″ target from 2012 Open season. That was baaaaaaad. But I think this is possibly the only thing that could be worse! Ha! I am still completely dealing with this stupidass headcold, which is absolutely the worst thing possible for burpees.

Workout 14.5: a sloooowwww (but complete!) 24:10

WOMEN – includes Masters Women up to 54 years old
21-18-15-12-9-6-3 reps for time of:

65-lb. thrusters

Bar-Facing Burpees

This was SO MENTAL for me. That weight is heavy for 84 freaking reps. Burpees are usually something I can fly through, and always have gas left in the take for. Nope. Not this time. I have neverwanted to DNF and quit a workout before as badly as I did this one. It felt awful, it felt incredibly long, it felt like I was dying, and it felt like I was moving as fast as possible but somehow barely moving at all. I’m so freaking proud of myself for finishing this one out. I kept thinking “It’s supposed to be hard. I’m doing this because it’s hard.” That helped to keep me motivated, for sure. The 18&15 rounds just about broke me. From there out I was fine, but man, they were tough. And just like that, as quickly as the Open season started, it ended!

I’m planning to write out a big post about my experience with the Open this year, but for now I’m just going to steal what was posted on my box’s site today, because it’s pretty perfect to how I’m feeling, and I need to get off my butt and head to crossfit now!:

Here are a couple takeaways from the last five weeks:
1) You are capable of more than you think you are. We say this every year, but it is so awesome to see (and hear about) people accomplishing things they didn’t think they could because they were forced to try. This can’t happen every day, but it is a good reminder that sometimes you’ve got to not be afraid to fail and just push yourself a little outside your comfort zone. You never know, you might surprise yourself.
2) Standards are important. Some of you might have been surprised to be “no-repped” or had some trouble meeting the required movement standards. You should strive to hold yourselves to these stringent standards every day, not just on the days that you’ve got a judge counting your reps. I promise it will make you a better athlete in the long run.
3) One of the most amazing parts of CrossFit is the camaraderie. If you participated in the Open, I’m pretty sure you enjoyed the cheering, support, and general energy of the Open WOD days. While not every day is a competition day, every day can be as supportive and full of energy as the past five Fridays. Remember how great it felt to have someone standing by you til the bitter end of those WODs, and replicate that the next time you finish early and start to pack up your stuff before everyone else is done. The support is one of the things that sets CrossFit boxes apart from the globo-gym – Please, please be conscious of that and do what you can to help foster the kind of atmosphere that helps everyone succeed.

Man, want to know pain? Sit in the car for 7 and a half hours after doing insane amounts of heavy deadlifts. Ow. I’m just really happy I took the time Friday afternoon to roll out my back and hamstrings for as long as I did, directly following 14.3. I can’t even imagine how it would have been had I not done that. Oh, and, I should probably mention, I spent Saturday on the beach in my babin’ suit. What do I come home to? SNOW. A million inches of snow, and below freezing temperatures. I can’t even believe this!!! At least I get an extra day of spring break, and was able to make it to crossfit since the roads had thawed out by 430. Ass is officially in gear. I’m going to attempt to start 4x/week this week. I’m nervous, but excited, because I’m ready to take the next step and push myself to the next level.

Strength:

Hang Power Clean and Jerk 3-3-3-3-3: 75-75-75-75-75. I’m still pretty noodley in my core from 14.3, so I stayed pretty light to protect my back in the jerks. I also used this as my first excursion into not dropping the weights from the top, but actually bringing the reps back down to my shoulders, then hips to reset, and then into the next rep. I haven’t done a lot of that since my elbow blew out last year, so that felt awesome.

WOD for Rounds+Reps: 3+14 Rx & 3+10 Rx

AMRAP in 5 Minutes of:

12 Pull-ups: Rx.

6 Burpees: Rx.

Rest 1 Minute, then…

AMRAP in 5 Minutes of:

10 Thrusters: 45lbs, Rx.

1 Rope Climb: Rx.

Since it was a full class, we paired up and had the option to pick which couplet we wanted to start on. I stupidly picked the pull-ups/burpees, and definitely regretted that as soon as I got to the thrusters. But! I did manage to eek out 7 pull-ups unbroken in the first round!!! That was awesome!!!! That’s a PR for max unbroken reps. I think I’m getting stronger, which is great, because I feel like the last three or so months I’ve been about at the same point. Ugh can’t I just be strong as all hell now?! As I mentioned before, I’m going to try to start going 4 times a week, because I feel like I need an extra push and to shake my body up a little bit to get past this plateau.

I didn’t have time to write about this yesterday! This week is quite hectic, so I feel like I’ve been stretched pretty thin. I had a great workout yesterday though! I was originally thinking about going into the school’s gym early again, but then I saw the WOD scheduled for the afternoon and knew that it would probably be too much. OH GOSH and the CrossFit Open starts this Thursday night!!! I need to write about that tomorrow or Thursday!!!!!!!

Strength:

Front Squat 5-5-3-3-1-1: 75-75-95-100-110(PR!)-115(PR!!!). So the coach said we probably weren’t going to hit any PRs after doing the volume leading up to the single reps, but it’s been so long since I did front squat singles I knew that I would be able to best my previous 1RM, and I did, by 10lbs! Woopwoop! And that was even after a bunch of pretty heavy reps, so I’m sure I could front squat much more for a heavy single attempt. These felt so good! Form was a little sketchy, as can be seen in the video here. I shoot my butt up first and then compensate after rising out of the bottom. It’s gotten much better from how it used to be, but I still need to work on it, especially as I go heavier.

WOD for Time + Reps: 10:29 + 42 Burpees

5 Rounds of:

7 Thrusters: 65lbs, Level II-.

7 Pull-Ups: Level II.

7 Burpees: Rx.

Rest 1 minute, then:

Max burpees in 3 minutes: 42,Rx.

Such a tough and weird WOD! I liked this kind of “buy-out” style, although a little more rest would have been nice! I recorded myself doing burpees for the first time ever, and I realized that my burpee technique is…special, at best. When I jump my feet up, I shoot my right leg out to the side so I land a little lower. I need to work on landing in more of a centered squat stance for sure. I’m not sure I’m willing to publicly shame myself with a video of my goofyass burpees yet. My pull-ups and thrusters were ON POINT (en pointe?) though. Woo!

I don’t know what has gotten into me lately!!! I’ve been sleeping super well, waking up feeling rested, and feeling super ready to start my days. Today, I woke up before my alarm. BEFORE MY ALARM. WHAT. Well, I kind of cheated because I wake up to say bye to Tyler in the mornings when he leaves for work, so I was already a little bit awake. BUT STILL most mornings I just pass the hell back out and sleep until my 4 alarms go off (8:01, 8:31, 9:01, 9:21) and I hit snooze on my last one at least three or four times until 9:35 when I have 10 minutes to jump up, walk the pups, and run out the door (that is my life, I’m not even kidding. Every. Single. Day. And it’s the WORST.) Moreso than not lately, I’ve been falling asleep super quickly, sleeping really soundly through the night, and waking up feeling good. How good? I’ll tell you.

I’ve been sleeping so well and feeling so good that I woke up and decided to go to the gym on my campus to pull a 2-a-day, and work on some weightlifting before class. And then I went to crossfit this afternoon at 430!

Clean and Jerk 65% 3-3-3: 70lbs

Snatch High-Pulls 100% 3-3-3: 70lbs

Strict Press 75% 5-5-5: 45lbs

Front Squat 85% 3-3: 90lbs

These were mostly technique and volume work, but they all felt really great. It was a good morning wake-up. Then I went to classes, and then crossfit!

Strength:

Front Squat 5-5-5-5-5: 65-65-65-65-65. I kept these light. After the heavy front squats this morning, and knowing that I had a million burpees and thrusters coming…I definitely took these easy.

WOD for Time: 13:12

40 Burpees: Level II.

40 Thrusters: 55lbs, Level II.

40 Pull-Ups: Level II.

I AM SO PROUD OF THIS. SO PROUD. I was the ONLY female in the 430 class who stuck with 55lbs, which was also Rx weight (reps were 50 down the line though), and there were some of the super beasty women there! I was really intimidated and almost dropped, but I decided to stick it out and just take my time. But I killed it! I was one of the first on the bar after the burpees, and then went 10-10-10-5-5 on the thrusters!!!!! I’m so proud of myself!!!! Making gains all over the place. Then I had to wait a good bit until I had my arms back for the pull-ups, because I really didn’t want to have a repeat of last year and go flying off again. I did really well on the pull-ups, doing 7 sets of 4, 3 sets of 3, then 2-1. Felt amazing, and I’m so proud of myself for this one.

I’ve found the key to blog success: post more pole dancing photos. I got more hits in the last 48 hours than I’ve had in a long time! I suppose that is due to the fact that I don’t openly talk about it, so when a picture of me on a pole pops up on facebook, it surprises people, and they click. Note to self…don’t friend any current/past professors after graduating….ha! I’m joining a class this coming Sunday, so I’ll have more pictures. Now I just need to convince myself to start filming my strength stuff at crossfit!

Strength:

Snatch 5-5-5-5: 60-60-60-60. I’m going to be staying here for a while. My speed under the bar just isn’t fast enough following my triple extension. These felt better today, but I still am very uncomfortable dropping lower than about a quarter squat to catch anything over 35lbs. Maybe I should work on that next week.

WOD for Reps: 120

5 Rounds of:

30 Seconds Thrusters: 55lbs, Level II.

30 Seconds Box Jumps: 20″, Rx.

Rest 1 Minute

Followed by 1 Round of:

1 Minute Thrusters: 55lbs, Level II.

1 Minute Box Jumps: 20″, Rx.

My rounds went like this–1: 10-11, 2: 10-11, 3: 9-10, 4: 9-7, 5: 8-8, Bonus: 11-16. Well, that escalated (or rather, the exact opposite of escalating…de-escalated? Ha.) quickly. Before we started, I saw that three of the amazingly strong women I look up to in the box were doing the Level II weight of 55lbs. I asked Erika if I should drop down to the Level I weight, because they’re so much stronger than me and it worried me…which was weird, because I felt like 55lbs was do-able, but they got me doubting myself. She said that I will be totally fine at 55lbs, and that the other girls were dogging it, which made me laugh. I just needed a little reassurance. My goal was to stay at an average of 20/round, but I realized at the end of the 3rd when I was already dying that that goal was slightly out of reach. When rounds 4 & 5 beat me down, and the bonus round kicked me in my ribs. But honestly, I was only between 10 and 18 reps below the beasty girls, which only averages out to a few reps/round, so I am pretty damn happy about that. I was in my head a lot on the thrusters, but I went unbroken until rounds 5 and 6, which surprised me in a good way. But I feel like I’m going to need a wheelchair for the next day or so…shakiest legs.

I had meetings in the morning before class so I couldn’t go to my normal 9:30am class. Yesterday made me realize just how much I neeeeeeed to go in the mornings on Fridays, because I really struggled to get in there for the 4:30. But I did it!

Strength:

EMOTM for 10 Minutes of:

2 Thrusters: 70lbs. Really happy with this. I pushed myself pretty hard with these, and I’m stoked I hit all 10 rounds. I had it set up so I could strip down to 65 if I needed to, but I stuck it out!

5 Toes-to-Bar: Pretty much zero stringing together of these. The first 5 rounds I stayed on the bar and just adjusted my grip/swing between each one, but after that my sets deteriorated pretty quickly. I just didn’t have the coordination necessary ha.

As much as I haaaaate RRMMs, this WOD was really great. Quick and dirty. Last time we did RRMMs back in June, I used 15s, could barely do the rows, and did the pushups from my knees. These were all full push-ups (a little snakey though, if I’m bein’ honest) and at 20lbs! I had 15s sitting in front of me in case I had to drop, but I didn’t! Another instance of sticking it through to the end. I was very surprised how taxing/challenging the step-ups were!! My quads were definitely on fire at the end. Also, one of the phenomenal beast women at the box I was working out next to told me she was glad we were next to each other because it made her keep up her pace. Ultimate blushing! Talk about an ego boost, because I was trying to keep up with her the whole time! I wanted that last RRMM rep so bad, but I couldn’t get to the top of the thruster before time ran out. Wompwomp!

Today has been LOOOOOOOOONG. I woke up at 4:57am to take my dog 3.5hrs south of us to Chesapeake, VA to have her pre-op consult and surgery for her detached retina. Turns out, her retina has been detached for much longer than they suspected. She ended up not being a candidate for the surgery after all. I really appreciate the fact that the vet turned her down. It would have been so easy for him to demand they do the surgery, just to get the money from our pockets. We would never have known otherwise. I did learn that there is a great chance of this happening in her right eye as well, so I need to keep a very close watch over her vision and make sure nothing irregular comes up. Anyway, ate some Denny’s, loaded up on coffee, and headed home (it took 4hrs30mins to get back…ugh). Overall, 450+ miles in one day, sitting forrreevveeerrr. I was ready to work out, even though I was still pretty exhausted.

Strength:

EMOTM for 10 Minutes of:

2 Thrusters: 65lbs. Felt…good? Strong? Very weird feeling. I expected them to be horrid. Haven’t done thrusters in a while, so this was really nice.

5 Toes-to-Bar: Rx. Eh. Worked on technique and making firm contact with the bar every rep. Still not to more than 2-3 strung together. I can’t flick my legs fast enough!

WOD for Time: 10:37

3 Rounds of:

10 Hang Squat Cleans: 70lbs, Level II-. Perfect weight for me. Just enough without being crushing. Still had to yell at the last couple of each round to get up. My legs are toast.

15 Burpees: Rx.

50 Double-Unders: Rx.

Perfect! Perfect WOD, perfect scaling, perfect everything. So great. Now I’m super crazy energized, had an awesome dinner of Atlantic Salmon, mashed sweet potatoes, and guac. Oh, and some spiced apple cider because fuck yeah fall. Time to round out the night with some climbing. I’m probably going to fail a LOT because..well..leg day Homework forever this weekend. I’m so glad I went to crossfit today. Best.

This has been the craziest 10 days! Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to get a Friday OR Sunday workout last week, so I only made it 2 times for the week. Bummer, but oh well, life happens. Due to my new school schedule, I have to return to evening workouts, with my Mondays being at 6:30pm. So late! I had my first late workout yesterday (Monday) and it was awful! I was weak and slow and everything hurt and today I feel like complete death. Hopefully I’ll get more used to this, and won’t feel like dying after getting into this new routine.

Strength:

Front Squat 3-3-3-3: 105-105-105-105. Like I said the week before going to the beach, I wanted to stay here for another week. And these felt even heavier today. There was no way in the entire world that I was going to get any more weight for 4 solid sets. But I did them, and that’s what matters. Next week…110. It’s happening for at least one set.

WOD for Time: 11:39

21-15-9 of:

Thrusters: 55lbs, Level II.

Burpees: Rx.

Kettlebell Swings: 35lbs American Swing, Rx.

This was annoying. KB swings and burpees, totally do-able. A couple weeks ago I did thrusters at 65lbs (5 sets of 7) with no issue. But these today DESTROYED my wrists. I’m not sure why the thrusters were so hard on them today randomly, but man oh man. I was almost in tears after the first round. I should have broken them up more from the start, but eh. Rx was 65lbs, but we were supposed to stay around 10 to 13 minutes, and I definitely would have taken longer than that if I had gone heavier, looking back. Felt good to do full KB swings at a manageable weight. One of these days I’ll get them at 53lbs. One of these days.

I need to make up some kind of PR dance, either for in the gym, or once I get home. Not many things make me as happy as new PRs do. Today was a great gym day.

Strength:

Clean and Jerk 1-1-1-1-1: 85-90-90-90-95(PR!)!!!! Yes! PR’d my back squat yesterday, and PR’d my c&j today! I know not every day at the box is going to be a good one, so I’m feeling really happy about this.That is even a pre-injury PR! It was a little wonky, but I got it. I can’t wait to hit 100lbs on it. Erika said that my jerk looked super strong today, which is what I’m more concerned with as far as my elbow, which is what pushed me to try 95 once.

WOD for Time: 14:09

5 Rounds of:

7 Thrusters: 65lbs, Level II.

7 Toes to Bar: Level II reps, Rx movement.

14 Box Jumps: 20″, Level II.

This was an epic win as well. I loaded up a 35lb bar with 2 10s and 2 5s, instead of 2 15s, for fear that I wasn’t going to be able to follow through with 65lbs the entire time. But I did! And I did all rounds unbroken for them! The TTB were better than expected, and I didn’t have to drop from the bar for the first two rounds. I’m still trying to get my kip down to string them together, but at least I can get two now! And the box jumps felt good today too. All around, great gym day. Now back to millions of hours of homework. Boohiss.